Delightfully Delicious Somethings...

Happy Friday! Can you believe it's almost the end of January already?!? This month has just raced by!

Since it's Friday, it's time for a new challenge at Stamp Something. This week, we are being sponsored by Digital Delights by Louby Lou, and our theme is "Delightfully Delicious Somethings". So pull out your food images, embellishments, papers, etc, and join us in whipping up something delicious!

Wendy at Digital Delights very generously gave the Stamp Something DT images to work with, and it is my pleasure to show you the adorable Cappucino Pippin. I just love his cup!

I'm not much of a coffee drinker myself, so I decided that Pippin is having a mug of yummy hot chocolate. And what would a good cup of cocoa be with out whipped cream (Liquid Applique) on top?

Copic markers used:

As you can see, I used some of my custom mixed colors again. You can find a comparison of the R81p and YR21p here.

BG72p recipe: 5cc's colorless blender fluid + 80 drops BG72 refill

And a color comparison swatch:

Now what are you waiting for? Head on over to the Stamp Something Challenge Blog and check out what the rest of the DT has in store for you.

Challenges I entered with this card:

Copic Buzz - sketch
A Spoonful of Sugar #88 - Freestyle
Stamp, Scrap & Doodle Sat's #24 - Spring
Bee Crafty #22 - favorite color combo

Thanks for stopping by!

Love you to the Moon...

Back when we were first dating, my husband gave me a book on the moon for my birthday. It's filled with gorgeous photos, but the very best part about it is the inscription he wrote inside the front cover: "I'll love you to the moon and back." There was more to it than that, of course, but that was the phrase that stuck in my head.

  

When I saw ching chou kuik's Red Hearts by Sweet Pea Stamps, it immediately made me think of that book, so I decided to use it on a Valentine's Day card for my husband.

The image was colored with copic markers as usual. I wanted to do something a bit different for the background, so I randomly scribbled on color with a R81 and my custom pale YR21* (I have two of these - this one was the darker of the two). I then used my custom pale R81* and custom super pale YR21* to blend the darker shades together. After I was finished with that, I dotted the whole thing with the copic colorless blender pen to give it an interesting texture. Note that you don't have to be too precise when coloring because the clolorless blender pen hides any less than perfect areas. I really like the effect, so don't be surprised if you see it again with different color combinations.

I always get asked about my custom markers, so I did a color comparision swatch for you so you can see the difference between the original copic color and my custom blends.

 

*The formula's for my custom pale markers are as follows:

pale YR21: 5cc's blender fluid + 80 drops YR21 refill

super pale YR21: 5cc's blender fluid + 30 drops YR21 refill

pale R81: 5cc's blender fluid + 35 drops R81 refill

Challenges participated in with this card:

Charisma Cardz #3 - fruity colors (raspberry, banana, and blueberry)

Crafty Creations #51 - Valentine's or Love

Creative Card Crew #43 - punch it (Martha Stewart Lace Heart punch)

Midnight Madness #37 - sketch (MMSC37)

A Spoonful of Sugar #87 - Lots of Layering

Copic Buzz Weekend Technique #1 - using your blender pen to create texture

Simon Says Stamp - punch it! (Martha Stewart Lace Heart punch)

Thanks for stopping by!

Mommy's little angel...

Today I made a card for the first ever challenge on Mo's Challenge Blog. The challenge is really simple, you just need to use purple on your card, along with an image from Mo's Digital Pencil. I actually really like purple, but for some reason, I almost never use it on my cards. So this was a fun challenge for me, as it gave me an excuse to pull out my purple copics and give them a whirl.

Isn't this just the sweetest image ever? I'm normally not into angels, but as soon as I saw Michael, I had to add him to my shopping cart. Before I started coloring the image, I actually had the prettiest purple designer paper picked out to use on the card, but once I was finished coloring, I decided that the image was too sweet on it's own to need any fancy paper or layout. I matted the image on black card stock, and then layered that onto a white card base for a simple but elegant card.


For my finishing touch, I added Frosted Lace stickles to his wings, and went over the halo with a Buttermilk Spica pen.

Copics used:

As you can see from the photo, I used two custom YR21 copics for the halo. The palest, YR21p, is made from 5cc's blender fluid plus 30 drops of YR21 ink refill. The darker one, YR21pd, is made from 5cc's blender fluid plus 80 drops of YR21 ink refill. These 2 custom markers are by far my favorite yellows.

Labeling Copic Ciao Markers, Etc...

Are you tired of not having the numbers on the ends of your Ciao markers? Do you wish they could look like this?


Inquiring minds want to know how I labeled my Ciao markers, so I thought I would do a quick tutorial. I'm too lazy (and cheap LOL!) to go out looking for specialty labels when I can create my own in the comfort of my own home, using supplies I already had on hand.

How to label your markers:

Supplies needed:

• copic markers LOL!
• scrap pieces of your favorite white card stock
• 1/4" circle punch (mine is the one sold by SU, but I'm sure there are others ones out there)
• fine tipped black pen/marker of your choice (I used a 0.3 copic multi liner)
  
• mini glue dots, 3/16" size works best
  

Step One: Scribble a circle onto your cardstock (I recommend using the brand you generally color on so you will have accurate colors).

Step Two: Using your fine tipped black pen/marker, write the marker number in the circle.

Step Three: Line up the opening on your circle punch over the number and punch it out.


Step Four: Attach your punched out label to the end of the cap of your marker with a glue dot. *note* I always attach mine to the super brush tip end so that I know at a glance which cap to take off.


Easy peasey!

I rather like being able to see the actual marker color at a glance, so I've started to go back to do this to all of my Sketch and Original copics too.

I admit to being rather anal about being able to locate a specific color quickly, so I've applied the same system to my collection of stickles. Just switch out the 1/4" circle punch for a 1".

CD Sleeve tutorial, and a chance to win...

I thought you might like a peek at one of the 3 cd cases you can win as part of the InStyle Stamps Over the Hump candy I mentioned earlier today. Be sure to pop over to the InStyle Stamps blog to see the two other cute designs that are up for grabs, and of course, to enter to win.

Now on to the instructions...

Easy Peasy CD Sleeve

*See template for visuals.*

-Cut a piece of 10x6 card stock.
-Score down the middle of the 10 inch side.
-Rotate the paper, and score in 1/2 an inch on each end of the 6 inch side of the paper.
-Cut out the 1/2 inch tabs on one side of the paper as shown, and dispose of them.
-Fold the paper in half on the 5 inch score line and punch out the half oval with a circle punch. This is optional, but it makes it easier to get your cd out of the finished project.
-Fold in your 1/2 inch tabs on each side and glue in place.
-Decorate as desired.

Told you it was easy!

InStyle Stamps Fantasy Blog Hop

It's the last Friday of the month, and you know what that means - it's time to go blog hopping with InStyle Stamps! This month, the design team was given an image from our new fantasy line, debuting today! As usual, we will have some great prizes to give away, so make sure to read all the way down to the bottom of the post to see how you can get entered into a drawing for some great goodies!

When Virginia showed me the new images, I knew I had to work with the adorable new Twirling Fairy image. She is just so cute!


For my blog hop project, I decided to make a birthday card with matching wrapped gift for a friend who's is celebrating the big 40 next week. Think she'll like it?


Matching wrapped gift, you say? How did you do that, you say? Well let me let you in on a little secret... not only is digital paper great for cards and scrapbooks, but it makes great custom gift wrap!

For my gift wrap, I printed the White Circles and Posies digi paper onto copy paper. Yup, you read that correctly, plain old copy paper.


I then added on ribbon, lace, and a pink button to match my card. See how quick and easy it is to add a personal touch to your wrappings?


For the card, I colored in Twirling Fairy with copic markers and added some highlights with my trusty white gel pen. I don't know about you, but when I think of fairies, I picture gauzy dresses made out of some gorgeous shimmering fabric, so I went over the image with Angel Wings Shimmerz to try to recreate that effect.


As you can see, the designer paper is more of the White Circles and Posies digi paper, this time printed onto cardstock. I used the ribbon and lace from the gift wrap, and added in two pink buttons in a smaller size so everything coordinates.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

On to the blog hop details...

We will be giving away a Grand Prize to one lucky Blog Hop participant and also have a prize for one lucky design team member. To enter, hop through the design team’s blogs (you can find them in my sidebar), and then go to the InStyle Stamps blog and vote for the designer who's project inspired you the most. (You're going to vote for me, right? LOL!) The leave us a comment answering the following question in order to be entered into the drawing for the grand prize:

What is your favorite fairytale? (Now or as a child.)

My favorite fairytale has always been Sleeping Beauty. I saw the Disney movie as a child and was enchanted. The amazing music and the funny antics of the 3 Fairy Godmothers sucked me right in. "Make it Blue." "I said Pink!" LOL. I've read many other versions of the tale (Robin McKinley's "Spindle's End" is an entertaining romp with a less helpless heroine.) over the years, but the Disney movie version remains a favorite.

Wedding Cake

While blog hopping last week, I came across this adorable wedding cake card by Melissa Rove. It is so sweet, it instantly went into my "must case" file. LOL. My co-worker got married last weekend, so that gave me the perfect excuse to make a wedding cake card of my own.

My cake actually consists of 3 separate layers glued onto a card base. Here's how I did it:

Cut a piece of card stock to 4.25 x 5.5 inches. (I used a piece of shimmery white card stock for my card.) Cut 2 inches off of this for your bottom layer (you will have a 2 x 4.25 inch piece). Now cut the remaining piece in half so you have two 1.75 x 4.25 inch pieces. Trim one of your 1.75 pieces to 1 3/4 x 3 5/8 inches, and the other piece to 1 3/4 x 2 7/8 inches. Use your corner rounder to round 2 edges of each piece as shown on the card.

Now that you have your layers made, emboss each layer with the Cuttlebug folder of your choice (I used D'vine Swirl on mine.) before gluing them in place on a 4.25 x 5.5 card base. Carefully cut the card base to the shape of the cake, and you are ready to decorate. I used the Martha Stewart small hydrangea and branch punches as well as some pearls that were leftover from my wedding decorations.

I know it sounds complicated, but trust me, this card whips up in no time flat.

Oh, and...

Congratulations Jeff and Rachel!!!

Method Monday with InStyle Stamps - Gift bag tutorial

It's Method Monday at InStyle Stamps, and it is my turn to challenge you with a fun tutorial using the exciting new product that will be debuting on Wednesday - digital paper! This debut is particularly special to me because... drum roll please... I designed 3 of the new digital paper lines!!! I have been bursting at the seams with excitement, and am so happy to finally be able to share my news!

Anywho, now that the squealing is done, back to our scheduled post...

If you are anything like me, you have probably moaned and groaned over having to wrap an oddly shaped gift because you forgot to buy a gift bag. Well, it is time to stop the moaning and groaning, because I am going to teach you how to make a quick and easy gift bag so you never have to worry about not having one on hand.


Supplies:
2 - 8.5 x 11 inch pieces of card stock
adhesive
ribbon
eyelet
scor-pal or other scoring tool
crop-a-dile

Instructions:
Select two patterns of digital paper (I used the stripe and floral design from the Mieko's Dream line) and print one on each side of your card stock to make 2 pieces of double sided designer paper. Be sure to use the borderless printing option if your printer has it. If it doesn't, that's ok, it will just make your gift bag a little smaller since you'll need to trim off the white border.

Using your scor-pal, score the 2 pieces of card stock 1.5 inches in from the left and right side, and 2 inches in from the top and bottom as shown below.


Now fold down your 1.5 inch score line from the top, and use your adhesive to glue it down. Then fold the remaining score lines in the opposite direction that you folded your top flap. Now you can see the design from the opposite side of the paper as shown below. Repeat with your second piece of paper.


Now that you have it all folded, you are going to apply glue to one of the 2 inch flaps. Line up the top flaps of your card stock, and adhere the 2 inch scored section of your first piece of card stock over the 2 inch scored section of the other piece of card stock as shown below.


Glue your other two 2 inch scored sections one over the other as described above, and you can see your gift bag take shape. Now you will need to finish the bottom of the bag by folding the corners in just like you would a present. (See below)


I use a piece of sticky strip to adhere the bottom flaps together as this will make the bag sturdy enough for heavier items. If you only plan on putting something light weight in your bag, you can get away with using regular adhesive. When you are finished, the bottom of the bag will appear as shown:

Now all you have left to do is attach your handle and do a little decorating.

I used my crop-a-dile to punch holes in the side of the bag and attach eyelets for my ribbon to slide through. Just tie a knot on the ribbon on the inside of the bag where it won't show, and voila! instant handle.

The birthday cake I used on my tag is actually the cake that Mellie is carrying. I used post-it notes to mask off Mellie so all I stamped was the cake.



And there you go. Instant gift bag all ready to be filled with one of those pesky, hard to wrap gifts! Once you get the hang of these, you can easily adjust the size to make a bag for just about anything. Go wild!

Be sure to check the InStyle Stamps blog for more sneak peeks, and don't forget, the digital paper you saw here will be available on Wednesday at the InStyle Stamps Store.

InStyle Stamps Method Monday

It's time for Method Monday at Instyle Stamps, and it is my turn to host! Today I have an adorable card box for you. Now don't worry, I promise that it is easy to make even though it will look like you slaved over it for hours! LOL!


To make a card box of your own, you will need:

• 1 piece of 8 3/4 x 7 1/2 card stock for the bottom
• 1 piece of 7 7/8 x 6 5/8 card stock for the top
• a scor-pal or other scoring tool
• scissors
• glue dots
• assorted embellishments for the top

Once you have cut your 2 pieces of cardstock to size, take the piece that will be the bottom of your box and score it 1 1/2 inches in from all four sides. Referring to the red areas in the template to the right, use your scissors to snip out a triangle from each corner. Now fold up your scored edges so that your paper looks like the sample in the photo to the left. Bring the sides together, and attach the remaining triangular flap the the inside of the box using a glue dot. Repeat with all 4 flaps until you have formed the bottom of the box.

For the top of the box, take your remaining piece of card stock, and score at 1 inch along all 4 edges. Follow the directions from the box bottom to form the top, and decorate it to taste.


Now wasn't that simple? :)

Don't forget that this Friday is the first ever Instyle Stamps blog hop! Be sure to check out the InStyle Stamps forum for all the details. The design team has out done themselves with their projects for the hop, and you will have a chance to win some great prizes! Be there, or be square!

InStyle Stamps Method Monday

It's time for Method Monday! What is Method Monday, you may ask? Well, every Monday, the InStyle Stamps design team will challenge you to stretch your wings and try something new. Today is my turn to host, and I have chosen to challenge you to try my take on the Polished Stone technique, which I am going to call Faux Granite.

Here is my take on the challenge:


You will need:

* rubbing alcohol
* a cotton ball (cotton squares work too, just layer 2 of them together)
* 2-3 reinkers in your choice of color
* glossy card stock (non-glossy will not work for this technique)
* stamp of your choice
* glossy paper friendly ink, such as Stazon or Palette
* paper towel


Step One:

Soak your cotton ball with rubbing alcohol, and add random drops of color from your reinkers.

*Note that the more drops you add, the more your colors are going to blend together. Limit yourself to 5-8 small drops or you'll end up with a muddy looking project.



Step Two:

Place your piece of glossy card stock onto the paper towel to protect your work surface. Dab the cotton ball all over your glossy card stock in a random motion.




Step Three:

Continue dabbing with the cotton ball until you are satisfied with how it looks. The rubbing alcohol will blend your colors, and will give you a granite effect as it dries.



Step Four:

Allow the glossy paper to dry (this should only take a minute or two). Stamp your image onto the paper using a glossy paper friendly ink.



Step Five:

Finish your card.


I used Sheree for my card. Isn't she sweet? I've been itching to ink her up ever since I got her! I stamped Sheree onto my piece of Faux Granite, and cut out the tub. I then stamped her again onto regular card stock, colored her in with Copic markers, and glued the Faux Granite piece into place. I added stickles in several different colors for the bubbles. You should see how they sparkle in real life! I made a second piece of the Faux Granite, and used it in place of DP. I love how it brings everything together!

Isn't the shower curtain cute? To make it, I cut a square of vellum and trimmed the edge with my scalloped edge punch. Then I used my scor-pal to score folds for the pleats, folded it flat, and punched a hole through the top for the "curtain rod", a piece of silver cord. Neat, huh?

If you decide to play along, post a comment with the link to your project on this post on the InStyle Stamps blog. If you upload your card to Splitcoast Stampers or Paper Craft Planet, please use the keyword ISSMM1-19 for ease in viewing. I can't wait to see what you come up with!

Happy Stamping!

Non-traditional holiday card...

I've had this gorgeous purple fiber for ages and have been dying to use it on a card, so I went digging through my paper stash today to try to find something that would coordinate. The lavender in my Boho Chic paper pack by Making Memories was a good fit, so this is what I based my card colors around.

I have a friend who loves anything purple, so I decided to make a holiday card for her using Tilda with Wine and Basket. She also LOVES her wine, so this will be the perfect card for her! Tee hee!

I heard about a new coloring technique called "drunken watercoloring" and decided to give it a try. You can read all about the technique at Jody Morrow's blog, Confessions of a Ribbon Addict, but basically what it boils down to is using rubbing alcohol instead of water in your aquapainter and using it to "watercolor" with SU reinkers. Neat, huh? Jody developed the technique and has a nice comparison of alcohol vs. water in the link above.

I used reinkers in SU Pale Plum, Baja Breeze and Wild Wasabi for the drunken watercolor technique, and then colored the rest of the image in with copic markers. I added white gel pen for accent, and a bit of SU Crystal Effects on the wine bottle to make it look like glass. I used oval and scalloped oval Nestabilities to cut out the white and Wild Wasabi layers, and sponged the white with Baja Breeze ink for a soft look. Tilda was cut out with my paper snips, and glued onto the layered piece.

Airbrushing the inexpensive way...

Have you noticed that lately a lot of cards you see on SCS and various blogs use the Copic Airbrush System? Well, I have, and it makes me really want one. However, I have 2 problems: 1. most of my Copics are of the Ciao variety, which doesn't work with the Airbrush System, and 2. buying the system isn't really in my budget right now. So what's a girl to do? Experiment, of course!

I've had the SU Color Spritzer Tool for some time now, and I got thinking... Hmmm... I wonder if it would work with Copic markers? After all, all the Copic Airbrush System does is force air through the marker tip to get the nice spray of color. Isn't it the same principal as the Color Spritzer, just fancier and more expensive?

Well ladies, I am here to tell you that yes, you can use your Copic markers with the SU Color Spritzer Tool. Now, your Copic barrel is too big to actually fit into the marker slot on the Color Spritzer tool, so you are going to have to hold the marker tip to the spray nozzle (use both hands). You can use either tip, but the Color Spritzer tool has a little notch in the tip of the nozzle that is perfect for resting the edge of the chisel tip end of your marker on. *Note: make sure to wipe the tip between colors or you will transfer the previous color to the new marker. I know this isn't a big deal with Copic markers, but you probably wouldn't be happy with getting Copic ink on your SU markers.

Here you can see the result. I used B32 for the edge, and then Y11 in the center. If you click on the photo to make it bigger, you can see that the spray of color isn't as fine as what you can achieve with the Copic Airbrush System, but for the price, I'm not going to complain. On the finished card, I wanted a slightly softer look, so I went over the airbrushed area with my colorless blender to tone it down a bit.

The layout for this card was CASED from this gorgeous card by Jeanne S. Her card was what convinced me I HAD to order this stamp, so thank you for the enabling Jeanne! :) I don't normally CASE so directly, so thought I should give credit where it was due.

Feel free to link to this tutorial, just be nice and give me credit, ok?

easy 3-D star ornament

I promised you an easy-to-make ornament, so here it is! I even included the pattern. How easier could it get?


For my star, I used a 4.25 x 8 sheet of SU Baja Breeze cardstock and stamped on it to make my own designer paper, but you could easily make this with a sturdy double sided designer paper if you didn't feel like stamping. I used the Flurries clear stamp set from Basic Grey to stamp all over both sides of the paper. I used Perfect Plum ink for the swirls, and then stamped the scrolls in white craft and embossed them with iridescent ice embossing powder. I added some lavender stickles to the ends of the swirls for a little more sparkle. Trust me when I say that the photos don't do this ornament justice. It sparkles like crazy in real life!

To make one for yourself, print out the pattern (shrink or enlarge it depending on what size star you want to make) and cut out the star. Trace the star twice onto whatever paper you want to use and cut them out. Cut the indicated line to the middle of each star, and join the stars by threading the lines together until they meet in the middle. Punch a hole in the tip of one of the points, and thread a length of cord through the hole to make your hanger. Easy, huh?

I made a bunch of these at work a few years ago, and hung them from the ceiling of my office. It made the room nice and festive for the holidays, and didn't take that long to do.

If you decide to use my pattern to make some ornaments of your own, leave me a link in the comment section so I can ooh and ahh over your creation. I'd love to see what everyone comes up with!

holiday card & a copic tutorial

Today is World Card Making Day, so I thought it would be appropriate to share a holiday card I made recently.

I found this adorable stamp from Stampendous, Penguin Games, at Michael's a while back. I have several friends and family who had their first child this year, so I thought this would be perfect for holiday cards for them. I've had the DP (Jolly & Bright by Heidi Grace) in my stash for a while, and decided to base my colors on it for a non-traditional holiday card.

The image was colored with copic markers (I used RV10, R46, YG11, Y38, W5, W7), and then I added some stickles to the pompom on the hat and the lights. I stamped an extra baby penguin, and put him on popdots for some dimension. While I was waiting for the stickles to dry, I bent beading wire into the shape of the string of lights. Once the stickles were dry, I put crystal effects on the lights and used this to hold the beading wire in place. I love how the crystal effects makes the lights look like actual glass bulbs. :)


I dug into my stash of bling for the pretty gems. They were brads, but the prongs on them are too big to lie flat, so I snipped them off with my crop-a-dile, and attached them with glue dots. Much better!

Copics are great for coloring on more than paper. The gems weren't the right color for the card, so I took my RV10 and YG11 copics, and colored each gem to match the colors used in my image. Neat, huh?



Want to see something else neat? You can also use your copics to make custom colored ribbon WITHOUT the mess you get with reinkers or other methods of coloring ribbon.

I wanted to use satin ribbon on this card, but the red I had didn't go with the card. I used white ribbon and a R46 copic to color it the shade I needed to match the card.

To do this, place your ribbon on a piece of scrap paper so you don't get ink on your stamping surface. Then, using the wide nib, color your ribbon in a straight line. Repeat until no white is showing.

Now flip your ribbon over, and do the same thing to the back of the ribbon for even coverage.


Note that your color might look a little splotchy at first, but will even out once it is dry.

The ribbon will dry in seconds and be ready to use. And see how little mess it leaves? Gotta love it! This will make your ribbon just slightly stiffer than it was before, but otherwise there is no difference.